Monday, December 31, 2012

To close out 2012, I'm happy to be just one host for Michael Dadich's virtual book blurb blast for his young adult (YA) novel The Silver Sphere.Michael will be awarding a $75 Amazon or BN.com gift card to a randomly drawn
commenter during the tour. If you'd like to be entered to win, make sure to leave an e-mail address with your comment below. If you want more chances to win, visit other stops on Michael's blast today and leave a comment there. The more times you comment, the more chances you have to win!If you just want to comment without being entered to win, feel free to do that. :)

Blurb for The Silver Sphere:

Shelby
Pardow never imagined she could kill someone. All she wants to do is hide from
her troubled father… when she is teleported to awaiting soldiers on the planet
Azimuth. Here she is not a child, but Kin to one of the six Aulic Assembly
members whom Malefic Cacoethes has drugged and imprisoned. He seeks to become
dictator of this world (and then Earth by proxy).

His
father, Biskara, is an evil celestial entity, tracked by the Assembly with an
armillary device, The Silver Sphere. With the Assembly now deposed, Biskara
directs Malefic and the Nightlanders to their strategic targets. Unless….

Can
Shelby find the other Kin, and develop courage and combat skills? Can the Kin
reassemble in time to release or replace the Assembly, overthrowing Malefic and
restraining Biskara?

From the author:

I've
been writing since first setting pencil to steno pad at age 8. A year later, I
began developing the world of my current series-in-progress, and even created
its title, The Silver Sphere. Now, with the support of years of experience,
those early maps and back stories have progressed into what I hope is a fresh
and entertaining take on the classic young adult fantasy adventure.

Despite
my frequent escapes into parallel worlds, I root myself firmly in my very real
family and community. When not pacing the yard maniacally after every few pages
of writing, I spend as much time as possible hanging out with my studly
9-year-old son, and my inspirational wife Jenna. I also coach several local
youth sports teams in Beverly Hills, and alternate between yelling at my two
crazy Corgis and hiking with my trained German Shepherd.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Blanca Beyar is an inspirational writer who is currently doing a virtual book tour for her newest book, Attributes of Mastery. She'll be giving away a signed copy of her book at the end of the tour. You can enter to win below.

Bio:

Blanca, who
is known as Lavayna to her students, has been a vessel for healing for over 11
years. Her passion for spirituality began when she was intrigued by a talk-show
that was discussing angelic communications. Curious to see what would happen,
Blanca attempted to communicate with her angel and to her utter surprise,
succeeded. This was the beginning of a life-long mission and purpose for Blanca
to be of divine service.

In her quest
to assist humanity in their healing process, Blanca has composed and
self-published six titles: “The Path That Leads the Way,”“The Path to
Self-Realization,” “Mastering the Language of the Universe,” “Goddess Mother Speaks,”
“The Little Book of Life,” “Love...The Only Reason,” which hit #1 in Amazon.com
best new Releases.

Throughout
her spiritual mission, Blanca has mentored and attuned over 100 students in the
art of Reiki healing. Today, she has devoted students of the Spiritual Path
around the world. Through her books, website, and newsletters, she continually
inspires humanity to expand their spiritual potential.

Throughout
her years of teaching and mentoring, Blanca has used many of her life’s
experiences to inspire and assist countless of individuals to abandon the role
of “victimization” and instead, to embrace the experiences as gifts of growth.
For the first time, in her greatest composition yet, Attributes of Mastery, Blanca boldly shares many of her traumatic
life experiences and teaches readers how to persevere against all odds with
grace and spiritual mastery.

In addition
to offering her books and mentoring, Blanca is also a gifted Empath and Medium.
She has presently limited her private practice in order to focus on reaching
the masses with her workshops and book events.

Welcome, Blanca. Please tell us about
your current release.

I feel so excited
and accomplished about releasing Attributes
of Mastery because it is not only a self-help book; it is also a
testimonial of my own challenges in life and how we can surely transform our
greatest struggles into attributes of strength to pursue our purpose in life. I
believe that readers will be able to identify with many of the life experiences
that I share and recognize that we have a choice in life: to remain a victim to
life’s circumstances or to allow ourselves to use them as a stepping stone for
growth, for healing and for our life’s calling.

What inspired you to write this book?

I usually
receive inspiration to write a book through my spiritual connection to the
Source. I usually do not “plan” to write a book...but rather, am gently nudged
to compose a book on a given subject. When I received the inspiration to compose
Attributes of Mastery, and was guided
to reveal some of the most intimate and challenging moments of my life, I
hesitated. Yet, as I contemplated, I realized how many times people would often
say to me that I was gifted and lucky to have been born with such a strong
spirituality, not taking into account that it was truly my challenges in life
that created the opportunities to grow and to unveil my spirituality.

My greatest
endeavor is for readers to also recognize that it is time to consider whether
holding on to toxic emotions is really working for them and allowing them to
achieve happiness and peace. The 21 attributes presented in this book are a
foundation and blueprint that can truly assist us in reaching a new level of
“being and of living.”

Excerpt:

Love has no boundaries or
barriers. Love has no exceptions or limitations. The energy of Love is what
sustains this existence in place because no matter how much we feed opposing
energies, as a collective humanity, we all experience and express love, whether
consciously or subconsciously. No matter how disturbed our lives may be or the
world around us, there is not one day that goes by that we do not experience
and express love! It must be so, for, this is the true essence of what we are
made of.

What exciting project are you working
on next?

One of the
“inspirations” that has come to me recently is to compose a book about all the
miraculous accounts that I have witnessed both as a healer and a medium. There
are no words to describe the bliss and reverence that I feel when a
“Validation” is made through a healing session or an afterlife seminar. It is
impossible to deny the powers of spirit when someone experiences healing from a
physical ailment or emotional blockage or when a beloved one who has
transcended, steps forward with a message of hope and comfort.

My hopes in
composing a book on these subjects is to invite people to explore the healing
modalities and to realize that we can truly experience a miraculous healing if
we are opened and willing to explore beyond the limited beliefs of physicality.

When did you first consider yourself a
writer?

If someone
would have told me in my teens that I was going to write books, I would have
laughed hysterically. I had absolutely no desire to write and actually flirted
with the idea of becoming a lawyer when I was in high school.

The first
realization that my writing was meaningful to others occurred as I harnessed my
writing skills as a contributing writer for an internet spiritual website. I
began to receive emails with questions about spirituality and positive comments
about my articles and it was then that I noticed that this was passion that I
needed to expand on.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?

In addition
to writing, I dedicate myself to offering workshops and seminars and I also
still work closely with my students. However, when I am presented with an
inspiration to write a book, it becomes like an obsession! I will stay up to
late hours in the night and sometimes block my schedule to other obligations in
order to work on a manuscript. Once the flow of writing begins, it is difficult
to focus on anything else. On average, I usually finish a book within weeks.

What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?

Some
writers need to separate themselves from noise and society, so to speak, in
order to focus on writing. I, on the other hand, love to write to music. What
is interesting about this quirk is that I will often listen to “club music”
instead of serene spa music! I love to feel the beats of drums and fast paced
music as I write because it sparks my passion.

As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?

As I
mentioned earlier, I flirted with the idea of becoming a lawyer, but the goal
behind this idea was because I wanted to help people. As a child, I remember
spending hours upon hours, sitting with all my teddy bears and dolls, sitting
them on my bed and imagining that they were clients in need of help. I would
have a chair next to me and sit one of my dolls on it and ask, “How can I help
you?” I would imagine that just by speaking with them, I was able to help!
Although I never associated this form of playing with a vocation, my family
would often say that I was going to be a social worker.

I feel
blessed and honored to have led to becoming a holistic healer and guru. Over
the years, I have met so many beautiful angels and my life has been
tremendously touched by so much love. If I had to do it over again, I would
chose to be who I am over and over again.

Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?

Our world
as we know it has been changing and shifting—especially over the last few
decades. We are entering an epic time of our existence where we will all have
the opportunity to clean our slates—the foundation that we stand on. It is
truly time for each of us to recognize that we all have a great potential to
not only experience life from a state of purpose and love, but that we also all
possess unique attributes that are geared to help others. If you are hungry to experience
a shift in your life, I humbly invite you to consider reading Attributes of Mastery.

Thanks, Blanca. Readers, here's where you can enter to win a signed copy of Attributes of Mastery:

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

My Christmas guest is YA novelist Kathryn Hewitt to tell us a bit about her novel Snow.

Bio:

Kathryn
Hewitt was born and raised in the small town of Camden, South Carolina.
Breaking away from becoming a teen mom statistic, she was an Honors Graduate
from Camden High School and went on to study British Literature and Sociology
at Charleston Southern University, inspiring to teach High School English.

Kathryn
has a passion for teaching teenagers and reaching out to those who seem as
though the world has closed the door. Because of her own experiences, including
becoming a teenage mother at fifteen, Kathryn knows the value of life and the
blessings it contains. Understanding the importance of making wise decisions,
Kathryn passionately seeks to instill that wisdom into the minds of every young
lady she encounters. The inspiration for Kathryn's writings comes from her own
experiences, and she is never afraid to speak the truth that others refuse to
acknowledge.

Kathryn
married in 2005 and is a stay at home mom with her four sons. She and her
family currently live in the same town she grew up.

Welcome,
Kathryn. Please tell us about your current release.

Snow
is a fiction novel based on a true story about the consequences of making
detrimental mistakes. This novel isn't just another story of teenagers
succumbing to their sexual desires. It is, rather, a realistic portrayal of how
teenage relationships can quickly turn violent. Ruth is the kind of sweet,
young girl that mothers hope for in their daughters. Soaked in innocence, she
is easily persuaded into a relationship she knows isn't good for her. The
consequences of that relationship force her into a life she could have never
imagined for herself. You'll find yourself rooting for Ruth to make the right
choice when she's face to face with a life or death decision. This novel brings
to light the raw emotions of the decision process many women face each and
every day, but offers perspectives from both ends of the spectrum. Snow brings a message of hope in a
seemingly hopeless situation. Because of some graphic descriptions and the
topics discussed in this novel, I do not recommend it for anyone under the age
of 13 or 7th grade unless a parent has read it first.

What
inspired you to write this book?

When I was fifteen I found myself suddenly drowning in
the most difficult circumstances I have ever been in. Had it not been for the
grace of God and the prayers of my family and friends, my situation could have
ended in a horrific way. I decided then I needed to share my story; that there
may be a young girl or woman out there that I could help by being bold and
speaking out. I began writing Snow
seven years later. It took a total of five years to complete, but doing so
helped me to overcome many things I'd held onto from my past. Most importantly
I learned to forgive. While this novel is based on a true story, I can neither
confirm nor deny which parts are derived directly from my own situation;
although, I will say that the ending of this novel is 100% truth. It still
baffles me today!

What
exciting story are you working on next?

I have several projects that I am currently working on. I
am completing an adult fiction novel that delves into the dark and unforgiving
world of adultery. The characters in this novel could be any family, in any
home, in any town. What happens when communication between spouses ceases to
exist and speculations began to fly? Will the truth be revealed before the
unimaginable happens?

I am also working on a novel that deals with the topic of
child molestation and a novel about the lives of law enforcement officers. All
of my novels are realistic stories, drawn from true stories that bring a
message of hope.

When
did you first consider yourself a writer?

Mostly I still don't. To me, I'm just a SAHM (stay at
home mom) that happens to have something to share. Being a "writer"
seems very daunting. I rather consider myself the author of a story; whether it
is just this one story or (hopefully) the author of many more.

Do
you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do
other than write and how do you find time to write?

People ask me this all the time, especially when they
find out I have 4 children. I fit writing in whenever I can. My husband is a
police officer, so on his days off I get to hide in my closet for a few hours
and get some writing done. When I have a deadline, my husband will hold down
the home front while I go away for a few days of uninterrupted writing. But
most of my writing gets done at night when he is working night shift. I climb
in my bed with my laptop and usually don't stop until the wee hours of the
morning. When I'm not writing I am home schooling my seventh grader, helping my
Kindergartener with homework, and teaching my two younger ones ABC's, 123's,
and household chores. We sit down every single night, together as a family, for
dinner and pray together.

What
would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I write best at night when I am eating chocolate. I also
think up my stories in the oddest of places, like the shower or when I'm doing
yard work. The busier my hands are the harder my brain works!

As
a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher. In ninth grade I shifted my
studies to meteorology and did a short internship with the local weather
station. I planned to become a storm chaser; however, after having my first
child in high school I knew I wouldn't be able to chase storms with a toddler
in tow, so I went on to college and studied British Literature and Sociology in
preparation to teach High School English III.

Anything
additional you want to share with the readers?

I am only a writer because God gives me a message to
share readers. There will always be some sort of difficult circumstance in
everyone's life and I want to deliver the message that even in the midst of the
most hopeless situations God is there; listening and loving. Even when the
circumstance doesn't end the way we may have wanted, there is still hope.

Thanks, Kathryn. Merry Christmas!

Readers, here are some ways to find out more about Kathryn and her writing:

Thursday, December 20, 2012

At the end of the virtual book tour, Anne is giving away a Nook Book Glowlight to a lucky winner, and another winner will be able to choose a character name for one of Anne's upcoming books. The form to enter is below the interview. And if you'd like more chances to win, follow her tour and visit other blog stops.

Bio:

Anne Sweazy Kulju, her husband, and daughter transplanted from
Southern California to the Oregon Coast in 1990. They landed in the coastal
hamlet of Cloverdale where they completed restoration-slash-conversion of
their 1906 Victorian farmhouse into a Bed & Breakfast Inn. Ms. Kulju
published a recipe book for the Inn that also provided local history, stories
and facts. Later on she contributed a series of articles about the area to a
regional travel magazine. This earned her the award for Best Editorial
Contribution. Her two short stories, “Not Quite Dead,” and, “A Party Favor,”
were published and later earned inclusion in the anthology for horror fiction, Agony
in Black. Recently, Ms. Kulju took honors in a flash fiction contest
held by The Source Magazine, for her short story, “The Dog Sniffer-er“. Ms.
Kulju and her husband of twenty-four years, live in Pacific City, Oregon.

Welcome, Anne. Please tell us about
your current release.

The Thing with Feathers is historical fiction that pulls
double-duty as a Saga--that’s the genre my publisher landed on. It’s also a
little bit Greek Tragedy (the hero must undergo a great transformation), and
there are liberal dashes of adventure, throughout. I also included a
bittersweet love triangle, and a Christian theme.

The hero of
the story, Blair Bowman, is a young girl just sixteen years old, in 1927. She’s
growing up without a mother on the wild and sparsely-populated coast of Oregon…and
she’s pregnant. Imagine you’re Blair, and your father is the town’s
fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher. And then imagine he is the rapist. Oh, and
he’s crazier than pig knuckles, too.

Blair
survives her desperate circumstances with the unexpected help from a wealthy
dairy farmer’s youngest son, and some strangely comforting words from a
favorite teacher. Ironically, the preacher just isn’t the forgiving sort. He’s
not happy when Sean Marshall interferes in his and his child-wife’s affairs.
Bowman sets his sights on the Marshall family, and everyone else who might
oppose him. Fortunately, evil doesn’t always win. It has a sweet (maybe bittersweet)
ending.

What inspired you to write this book?

We were
restoring a 1906 Victorian farmhouse and converting it to a Bed & Breakfast
Inn (the house became the setting for the book), and we found an old
photograph, circa 1920s, in the attic. It was of a young girl standing on a
rock near the river‘s edge. She was smiling, but she just seemed so sad, to me.
It was heartbreaking. I thought about that girl for days before I finally told
my husband I was going to write a story about her. I don’t think he expected a
full-length novel, but once I started writing it just took off.

Excerpt:

Blair smiled, “You’re asking if an Oregon girl knows how to
shoot?”

“Dear me, what
was I thinking?” he asked facetiously.

“That is what
they call a ‘Derringer’, isn‘t it? I almost bought one for myself years ago,
when I dated that gangster who worked for Capone. What does it shoot?”

“This is new.
It’s called the Lady Derringer. The whole length isn’t even five inches, so it
is easy for a small woman to conceal. Later, when you have a chance to look it
over, I hope you will like the scrimshaw work performed on the ivory grip--I
had it done special for you. But to answer your question, it is single action
and it holds just two rounds. They are 32 magnum--I chose that because it is
easy to shoot but it still has reasonable stopping power. It can put a man
down.

“Hope, alone, is
not a plan, Blair. You can not hope your enemy will act in a particular way;
you can’t simply hope that help arrives in time; you just can’t plan your
survival based on hope. You need to keep Hope alive; you need to keep it in
your heart. But, you also need to keep that gun close. Please, promise me you
will use it if you need to.”

Blair placed her
hand, gloved in white cotton, along the side of her friend’s face, kissed him
again and told him, “Trouble has always managed to find me, though I swear I
scarcely went looking for it. But I know, as sure as there are windy days in
autumn, all I need is that pistol and five minutes of dazzling courage, and I
can recover my son. I don’t know how to thank you, Wendell.” She smoothed the
worry lines from his forehead and whispered, “Yes, I promise…I will put him
down.”

What exciting story are you working on
next?

I just
returned the conceptual edit of “Bodie” to the publisher last week. The editor
loved the minor edits I made to it and had no changes for me, so now it is just
removing the editing marks and incorporating the changes I made. After that it’s
looking for those elusive typos before it goes to press. It’s all pretty smooth
sailing from here on out. Here’s a quick synopsis:

“Bad Whiskey, Bad Weather, Bad Men…” BODIE, in the California

Desert, was the deadliest town in America’s history.

Lara
and Lainy survived foster care and all its horrors, but the experience left
them incomplete in that they had no knowledge of the people they came from.
Unknowingly, until now, each of them has had a reoccurring dream for more years
than they can remember—the same dream. When the girls undergo regression
by a therapist anxious to publish their story, they learn shocking details
about themselves, an unsolved murder in Bodie, California, and a massive
cover-up. They want to investigate--but a mining executive can’t allow the “Dream
Sisters” to go poking around Bodie, anymore than he could allow the therapist
to go public and threaten his thirty-five million dollar deal. Are the “Bad Men
from Bodie” really dead? Join Lainy and Lara as they dig up shocking secrets in
Bodie. Based on a true story.

When did you first consider yourself a
writer?

That happened
when I had a signed publishing contract in hand. But then, I had self-esteem
issues.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?

Some days I
do. I may write for ten hours, one day. But maybe the next day (probably
because of the marathon from the day before), I can’t go longer than an hour. I
don’t worry about it; I write when I can. I have poor health and chronic pain,
and when I push too hard, I pay for it. Lately, I’ve really been pushing it
(but “Bodie,” has totally been worth it!)
As for finding the time, I’m disabled and my husband works two jobs. I
write every minute of the day that I feel I can. And even when I can’t type at
my laptop, I am always rolling around characters and plots and such in my head.
In that respect, I guess I am writing full-time.

What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?

I have to be
smoking marijuana while I write. I gave up very strong pain meds for
self-hypnosis (which I largely achieve through writing) and medical marijuana.
Trust me, pain meds are the death of creativity. I could not write my way out
of a wet paper bag while on pain meds. But the Medical MJ actually helps me
achieve a state of self-hypnosis while I write. This is when I feel my best.

As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?

I wanted to
be a veterinarian and a singer. I did do a little singing in college (I didn’t
say I was any good); my daughter became a veterinary tech. Isn’t life
interesting?

Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?

My friend
insists that when I finish up “Grog Wars,” my next project should be a sequel
to The Thing with Feathers. I admit,
I had given it some thought; I had the idea of writing Victory’s story, as well
as a children’s’ book, Adventures of the Hammer-Tail Cat. What do you guys think?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Today's guest is non-fiction writer David Welch. His book, Stop the Insanity Target 2014, is the topic of conversation as he kicks off his virtual book tour with Virtual Book Tour Cafe.David is giving away a Kindle Fire at the end of his tour, so if you'd like to be entered to win, use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

Bio:

David Welch studied economics as an undergraduate at Stanford then spent three years in the Army. Although it was during the Vietnam era, he was stationed in Korea for two of the three years where he witnessed firsthand some insanely inefficient practices of the U.S. military. After finishing my military duty he spent two years at the Univ. of Chicago where he obtained an MBA in Finance and Accounting while working full time to finance his education.

He then began a long series of finance and tax related jobs while also obtaining an MS degree in Tax Law at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. In 1978, he took off six months from work and ran for a Congressional seat against Leo Ryan just before Ryan was killed in Jonestown. David easily won the Republican primary, but when he later sought assistance from a number of Republicans then in office he discovered there was an ‘old boys rule’ where Republican Congressmen and Senators would not support someone running against a colleague already in Congress, even when that colleague was a Democrat. Only two Republican Congressmen broke rank and endorsed David: Jack Kemp and Ron Paul.

After losing the election, David returned to his career in Finance working for Fairchild Camera and then Schlumberger after it acquired Fairchild. He spent a little over a year in London as the Treasurer of Dowell Schlumberger and then two years in Tokyo as Asia Tax Manager for Schlumberger Wireline. During this period he traveled to more than fifty countries and learned a great deal not taught in school.

After leaving Schlumberger, David joined a small Silicon Valley educational software company in 1988 as VP of Finance and a year later started his own educational software company. During the following years he developed more than twenty innovative multimedia programs for teaching English as a Second Language. Eventually the company failed because of difficulty in competing against larger, better funded companies. A little less than ten years ago, David decided to teach rather than make software for teaching and spent a year in Poland teaching English followed by two years in China teaching International Finance and Business English at a Chinese University. Three of David’s former students are now studying at Graduate schools in the U.S.For the last several years David has been assisting his brother in a small Mortgage Modification business. During that time the two brothers helped save the homes of approximately 100 families who had faced foreclosure.

Welcome, David. Please tell us about your current release.

Stop the Insanity Target 2014 is a political manifesto of sorts, one that offers a plan to elect enough Independents to Congress in 2014 to end the current political dysfunction. It also provides ideas for solving twelve crucial problems in our country.

What inspired you to write this book?

Like many people, I’m fed up with the mess we have in Washington. I decided to try and do something about it.

Reader's Comments

“A clearly and cogently
argued plea for the world’s largest democracy to start doing what a democracy
is supposed to do, govern for and with the people.”

“Every American who is concerned about the
dysfunctional mess we call a government should read this book.”

“Your
optimism is applaudable, and I wish you luck with your efforts. There
definitely is insanity in Washington, and the career politicians need
replacing. Your use of plain language and real world examples makes this an
easy read, and your chapters are a manageable length.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

Not working on it yet, but if we succeed in electing enough Independent Representatives to Congress my next book will be released immediately after the 2014 election. It will be “Stop the Insanity Target 2016” and will offer a plan to elect an Independent President and a number of Independent U.S. Senators.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’m not really a ‘writer’ just a citizen with a cause.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like?If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I’m semi-retired which means I have a lot of time to write. However, I still assist my brother in his mortgage modification business and also find time to take my dog, Toppy, for a long walk each day. I also keep close contact with a number of my former students from Poland and China. They are all doing so well it makes me very proud for the small part I played in their education.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Interesting question. I wish I could say something really unique like “I write naked” but in truth I don’t do anything unusual at all.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I am not sure I wanted togrow up. Being a child is a lot more fun. However, once I got to college I clearly wanted a career in business. After many years in business I decided I’d like to teach and I did that for three years, one in Poland and two in China.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Of course I’d love for them to buy my book but even more important I’d like for them to visit my webpage, www.stoptheinsanitytarget2014.com, and sign up for my mailing list. That way I can keep them informed of the progress I make in the next two years.

Thanks, David. Readers, if you'd like a chance to win a Kindle Fire, here's where to enter (and if you'd like more chances to win, you can follow his tour and enter at other blogs):

Monday, December 17, 2012

We're starting the week off with an interview
with paranormal author Michelle Cornwell-Jordan. She's on a virtual book tour for her novella Kindred (Night School Vampire Hunter
Trilogy).

There are MANY giveaways with this tour: 5 e-copies of Kindredper
stop, and after the tour ends in late January there will be an additional 1 lucky winner of a $25.00 Amazon virtual gift card and 3 lucky winners who will win an autographed copy of Rock
Artist Cecile Monique’s EP Immortal Beloved! (Angel and Rafael’s song!) You can enter through the Rafflecopter code below.

Bio:

Michelle
Cornwell-Jordan is a YA Paranormal Author. Her titles include a co-written work
with Danny Jones entitled Reahket and
her solo YA Novella series Night School Vampire Hunter Trilogy.

She is also the producer of the online radio segment IndieReview Behind The
Scenes, where she and her co-host Jamie B Musings interviews Indie Authors and
Musicians.

Michelle has been married for 17 years and has a 14-year-old daughter. A book
lover, her favorite genre has always been paranormal adventures.

Another love is writing. Michelle has been writing about as long as she has
been a bibliophile! Losing herself in a fantasy world that she is creating on
paper is how she loves spending her spare time.

Welcome, Michelle Please tell us about
your current release.

The Kindred
is the second novella in The Night School Vampire Hunter trilogy.

Angel and her friends at Ame Academy, a boarding school for preternatural and
humans are back, and they are preparing for battle against the dark forces that
kidnapped Angel’s younger brother Jordan. Angel had recently discovered that
she was a Hunter and that she alone has a special weapon against her enemies,
her blood, which is discovered to be toxic to her enemies. Angel is prepared to
use her training and all that is at her disposal in order to save Jordan, even
if that means joining forces with the strange and mysterious Rafael, who at
their first meeting, she recognized him as the boy she had dreamed about for
weeks prior to his arrival at the school. Angel cannot shake the feeling that
she knew Rafael before, and is hopelessly drawn to her extremely handsome
fellow hunter.

Rafael frightens her, he hints of a secret; another time and another life
lived.

Can love survive two lifetimes?

Events unfold that provides the answers to who Rafael really is and what they
mean to one another; and along with these strange and blossoming emotions for
Rafael, along with guilt and fear for her brothers safety; Angel discovers that
she is more than just a Vampire Hunter, and that she plays a major role in a
ancient prophecy, which she must fulfill by facing a force so evil that
survival is not promised.

But she will face the Dark One, Angel will sacrifice all, if it means saving
all whom she loves.

Many questions are answered, but the drama is just beginning.

What inspired you to write this book?

A local
school located near my house. When seeing it, the idea sprung into my head
about a different student body residing in the school.

Excerpt:

A thought came into my head and I turned,
pinning Rafael with a please don’t mess
with me right now…or I’ll rip your heart out stare. I said, “When we first
met, you said we knew one another that you were with me when I was little, that
we’ve always known one another…always…l-l-oved one another…” I quickly tuned
out the others in the room, not wishing to focus on the reactions of the
others…although I did catch the big smile from Elin; an incurable romantic it
seemed. I knew this should have been a private conversation, but deep down I
felt Rafael knew what was happening; I wanted to know what he knew…

He looked at me, with one of those intense,
smoldering I’m a hot guy, and I really
know what this look is doing to you stare…but I wasn’t going to allow it to
affect me. I simply held his gaze in a stable, strong manner…and hoped I didn’t
look like a deer in the headlights… he sighed and said, “Do you really want to
talk about this here?” Rafael looked at me intently, leaning forward, resting
his forearms on his knees…hands pressed together in the steeple formation that
everyone uses to signify they are deep in thought.

I said quietly, “Yes.” He looked at me again,
and I swear, if he didn’t stop looking at me that way, I would completely
forget what we were talking about. He stood up, and crossed the room and came
to stand in front of me—did I happen to mention how close he was? Well, enough
that I felt a little uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t step back, and I refocused.
I needed to hear what he had to say.

“I knew you because I am ThunderKin; yes, I
knew who you were and what this meant in the war coming Samhain…”

“Okay,” I said trying to digest that here
stood one of the legendary Thunderbirds…I saw how his eyes glowed, now
appearing that unearthly golden hue; a worried expression passed over his
features, and I wondered what worried him. I said, “And the rest about knowing
me?”

“I knew you because…” he said as he reached
out, placed his hand on the side of my face, and leaned in close, lips almost
touching. He whispered, “I knew you because you are my destiny…my mate.”

I know we
are to say when putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard…I know the old
adage, that whenever we write even if no one sees it, then we are still
writers. I agree that is true. But I did not “feel” like an actual writer, or
the vision was clear to me, until one of my kids in the After School program
where I work said “When will the next one be released?!”

The fact
the child was awaiting my next novella that just shifted me into full gear to
go towards this dream!

Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?

No,
currently I still work an outside job; I work with children in an After-School
program. I write whenever a morsel of free time appears.

What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?

I love to
listen to music, and many times whatever I am listening, dictates the narration
of my story.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Author Aliza Mann is visiting today to give us a glimpse into her new novel, Disarmed. She's just kicking off a virtual book tour and has a $50 Amazon gift card to give away to a lucky person. You can enter through the rafflecopter form below.

Bio:

Aliza Mann has a
familiar story in the world of authors – she has been writing since she was
seven, created millions of worlds in her mind, and loves everything about
literature. Her affair with paranormal began with her brother’s role as Aslan
in an elementary school production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Everything about the story fascinated her and she has never stopped reading
since.

Much to her mother’s
dismay, Aliza would often skip going outside to play with friends in order to
stay in her room reading. Her junior high school experience was not much
different. She would spend all her time making up stories for her girlfriends,
then spend all evening swapping tales with them over the phone. With high
school, college and eventually her professional life, she found less and less
time to dedicate to her writing.

In 2009, she decided
to refocus on her writing career by taking courses and workshops to hone her
craft. Her first short story, a historical fiction piece entitled “Anjani’s
Song,” was selected for inclusion in Reverie – Midwest African American
Journal, an Aquarius Press publication.

Aliza joined Romance
Writers of America in 2010, as well as the Greater Detroit Romance Writers of
America local chapter. She holds a Savvy Author membership and continues to
participate in workshops and critique groups.

Today, she is the
mother of two and works in the Healthcare industry as an IT professional. She
shares her home with her 13-year-old son and her own personal
Alpha-superhero-best-friend. Her daughter lives off campus at a college nearby.
She has lived in Michigan since she was a small child and still considers her
home state of Georgia near and dear to her heart.

Aliza loves paranormal
and contemporary romances, leaning towards searing
hot heat levels. Her favorite authors include Sylvia Day, Maya Banks, Lora
Leigh, and Karina Cooper. She still reads excessively and works on too many
stories at once. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

My newest
release, Disarmed, focuses on the
struggles of Jessie Workings, a war hero, and his forced return home in order
to deal with some of his demons, so to speak. Struggling with some of the recent
actions in Iraq, he is coming to terms with his hero status and the loss of
friends on the battlefield. Back in his hometown, West Memphis, he finds that
things have changed and Jessie must find a way adapt. This isn’t something that
he is quite ready to deal with, particularly his relationship with Mavis, his
high school sweetheart. It’s really a story of how love can heal us, even when
a person isn’t sure that he deserves to love and to be loved, as is the case
with Jessie.

What inspired you to write this book?

Disarmed was really a labor of love for me. I
was intrigued by the plight of veterans, really for as long as I could
remember, and wanted to explore the difficulties of returning home after going
through the unique and challenging situations that only a war can bring.
Equally as interesting, the divorce rate among military couples is reported to
have increased by about 42% during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. That is a
startling statistic for any demographic group. To say that I was inspired by
the horrors and aftermath of war feels wrong, but in a lot of ways, those are
the things that prompted me to create this story.

When he saw her walking up the
driveway, he thought he was imagining things. Maybe a mirage, or a vivid
daydream. But as she moved closer, he was overtaken with the smell of
wildflowers. She had on a fresh perfume that intoxicated him.

“Hi,” she said.

For a moment, Jessie just looked at
her. He tried to hide his anger with her. He had no right. He’d told her that
there were no strings, but in that moment he wanted to wrap her up in them.
Then to show up, adding insult to injury?

“Hi, M.” God dammit, he hadn’t
meant to call her M. That was for different times. When her body was pressed
against his and her supple breasts were beneath his fingers. He told himself
not to be angry with her. That he wasn’t and shouldn’t be pissed.

“May I sit?”

Jessie didn’t say anything, afraid
that each word told a little more than he wanted. He just motioned with the
bottle to the lawn chair that sat beside him. She followed his direction.

“You didn’t call.” She spoke before
he had to.

“When I left the other day, you
seemed to be too tired for talking. I wanted to let you get your rest.”

“Really? I was thinking something
else. Like you didn’t want to talk to me.”

“Nah. I haven’t ever been that way
toward you.”

She looked at him, leaning forward
to see his eyes. The last statement, Mavis seemed to have a hard time
digesting.

“I came because I needed to talk to
you.”

“Okay. Talk.”

Mavis stood and walked directly
into Jessie’s line of sight.

“I need to know what to do here.”
She was shaking. Her hands went to her hips, then folded over her breasts that
peeked over the top of her coral colored halter top.

“What do you want to do?”

Looking off into the distance for a
moment, she seemed to turn the question over in her mind, a wrinkle marring her
delicate skin. She returned her attention to him, with resolve in her eyes. The
white, flowing skirt that she wore pressed against her body as the wind blew.
Her hair swished to one side, delicate strands wrapping around her neck and
along her shoulder blades. Her hands fell to her sides. She looked as if she
were surrendering. As he watched the fight fall from her body, his heart broke.
He didn’t want to defeat her. He wanted her to accept that he could not give
her the things she wanted more than anything from him.

What exciting story are you working on
next?

I’m
actually working on a paranormal romance about a vampire matchmaking agency.
The owner is, of course, a vampire and his assistant is human. Not only are
sparks flying between Anwar, the proprietor, and Delisa, the assistant, but
there is a murder. Anwar and Delisa must figure out who the murderer is before
the Supreme Vampiric Council decides
to shut them down, in a more permanent way if the pair isn’t careful.

So far,
it’s been a lot of fun. I think everyone will love Anwar. He’s more of a cool
vamp with a heart of gold underneath his callous exterior.

When did you first consider yourself a
writer?

That’s a
good question. I think I had to say it out loud ten or twenty times a day
before it sank in. I mean, until you’re published, it’s difficult to fathom
that you ever will be and once you finally get the acceptance letter (more like
e-mail, now days) it’s still a bit unreal. I think I truly knew I was a writer
during the 2011 RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference. We were hustling
from place to place, exhausted from the sessions that run from 8 a.m.–5p.m.
daily, and I looked around at all those others who were doing the same things:
paying the cost of admission, taking notes, dedicated to learning more and
becoming a better writer. That was the moment. When I realized that writing was
the strongest desire that I’ve ever had, one of the hardest jobs I would ever
love and the only profession that I could ever truly be happy with, even on the
bad days, I knew I was a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?

I’m not a
full-time writer just yet. Aside from having a teenage son who can be pretty
demanding with his football and show choir events, I work in IT during the day.
It’s hard to find a balance. I end up writing in the quiet moments of the day,
right after my son and guy turn in for the night. Otherwise, I would never get
anything done. But because I love it so much, most of the time, I end up staying
awake into the early morning hours. It’s a killer schedule, but it’s my
passion. People will do anything for their passion.

What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?

Hmmm. I’m
loaded with them. I think one of the more prevalent quirks would be my
insatiable quest for the perfect pen and notebook. I won’t write with a pen
that has a fine point, nor any mechanical pencils that have less than a .7
point. It works a bit better for me now, since I mostly write on computer, but
I always have a notepad and stash of pens and pencils nearby.

As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?

As a child,
I wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. It was one of those things that is
very vivid to me from childhood. I was obsessed with them, their costumes,
their boots, the choreography, just everything. That desire slowly changed to
syndicated columnist (I read Dear Abby all the time) and I even called The Detroit
News once to see what the requirements were for writing a weekly column.

Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?

I am a
secret baker. In the middle of the night, I often get a craving for sweets.
Rather than trek out into the night, I have been known to back a cake or make a
cobbler. My favorite cake is Red Velvet, most likely due to the rich taste and
cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Thanks, Aliza. Happy writing! Folks, you can connect with Aliza through these online locations:

I'm listed!

Blog Tour Partner - Goddess Fish

Followers

About Me

I'm a NH native and love New England. I love writing about the region, exploring it on foot, on my bicycle, and in my car. There are so many small communities and fun and interesting people in this area, that I could be here a lifetime and not do all it is I want to do. :)

I'm a moderator at The Writer's Chatroom that hosts live chats with guest authors on Sunday nights 7-9PM EST. Join the e-mail list to get notifications of upcoming guests, then stop in and join the conversation!